ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the question of user co-production within the arguably unlikely territory of criminal justice sanctions. Drawing on findings from a recent qualitative research study conducted in Scotland, the chapter observes that user co-production may be, for now, an ‘imaginary’ frame for justice sanctions. However, co-production’s core principles, that of personhood, participation and co-contribution, are critical to old and new ideas of criminal and social justice in Scotland and elsewhere. The chapter concludes that co-production requires more critical consideration by justice stakeholders, located within broader socio-political considerations of what justice sanctions are for.
